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VICTORIA — Though BC Hydro has yet to receive environmental or government approval for the proposed hydroelectric dam at Site C on the Peace River, the utility has begun the selection process for one of the biggest contracts on the estimated $8-billion project.

Hydro issued a request for qualifications late last week for would-be builders of the giant earth-fill dam and associated engineering works, the first stage of a selection process that is slated to wrap up the summer of next year.

The itemized to-do list, posted on the B.C. Bid website, points to a massive undertaking.

First, some 32 million cubic metres of excavation to stabilize the river banks, build support structures for the dam and generating station, and construct approach channels.

Then a river diversion via two 10.8-metre concrete-lined tunnels, each between 700 and 800 metres in length, plus construction of coffer dams, intake and outlet structures.

The dam itself is described as a “central core zoned earth embankment,” more than 1,000 metres long and rising 60 metres above the river, consisting of approximately 20 million cubic metres of earth fill. To be flanked by a “roller-compacted concrete buttress,” 800 metres in length, rising to a maximum height of 70 metres, and entailing a further 2 million cubic metres of material.

Plus construction of ancillary works, permanent roads on the site itself, drainage and debris-handling facilities.

The cut-off date for submissions is May 30. Participants also have to post a $3-million bond, returnable if they submit a viable bid.

Hydro will then put together a short-list of qualified bidders, probably four in all, and proceed through a vetting process that is expected to stretch into next year. Target date for awarding the final contract is the summer of 2015.

“It is expected that the contractor would mobilize on-site after the contract award and would be required to complete all of the works by December 2022 ... BC Hydro may seek innovative solutions from proponents in order to optimize the construction schedule.”

Attention would-be bidders: “The contractor will be responsible to facilitate the provision of training and employment opportunities to local aboriginal groups, and to make commercially reasonable efforts to make available specified dollar values of contracts to local aboriginal businesses associated with local aboriginal groups.”

Hydro also moved last month to secure qualified bidders to build temporary work camps, one on each bank of the Peace, for a construction force expected to top out at 1,700. That contract is expected to be awarded a little over a year from now.

“It is expected that the worker accommodation contractor would begin installation of the accommodation shortly after contract award and would operate and maintain the accommodation for up to eight years.”

Temporary does not mean throwaway: “The quality of the worker accommodation is a key component of the project’s labour strategy to attract and retain workers in what is expected to be a period of high demand for skilled workers.”

Both selection processes come with a caveat. “Site C is currently undergoing a cooperative environmental assessment by the federal and provincial environmental assessment agencies. Site C is currently in the Joint Review Panel stage of the process. Site C requires environmental certification, other regulatory permits and authorizations, and approvals before it can proceed to construction.”

The panel is expected to report to the federal and provincial governments later this spring. The respective governments will decide whether to grant environmental approval in the fall. Then comes a final round of approvals and permitting, including a decision by the B.C. Liberal cabinet on whether to green-light Site C in political terms.

There’s also strong and growing opposition to the project, from environmentalists angry at the proposed flooding of a huge tract of agricultural land, to energy industry analysts who dispute Hydro’s claims that Site C is “ among the most cost-effective resource options to help meet B.C.’s future electricity needs.”

Notwithstanding the hurdles, Hydro is pressing ahead with the procurement process.

“Standard practice,” said Dave Conway, community relations manager for Site C. “A project like Site C can better manage risks to budget and schedule by starting the procurement process early, recognizing that construction would not take place unless it receives environmental certification and other approvals.”

Still, there’s no disguising that Hydro is sweet on Site C. As of the end of last year, the utility had already spent $314 million on the project, for environmental, engineering and other studies, engagement with First Nations and public consultations.

Though $300 million is relatively small when compared to Hydro’s capital budget or the estimated tab for Site C, it would fund the construction of five new secondary schools or one of the two new hospitals that the government is building in the northern part of Vancouver Island.

Sunk costs, as the economists say, and readily written off if the project were to be cancelled.

But in political terms, it is hard to imagine Hydro — or the B.C. Liberals for that matter — walking away from Site C with nothing to show for it other than a stack of reports and a lot of protest signs.

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